Message From The Pastor

King By Force

¹⁴When the people saw the sign that Jesus had performed, they began to say, “Truly this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” ¹⁵Then Jesus, realizing that they were about to come and make Him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by Himself. ¹⁶When evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, ¹⁷got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was already dark, and Jesus had not yet gone out to them. ¹⁸A strong wind was blowing, and the sea grew agitated. ¹⁹When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the sea—and they were terrified. ²⁰But Jesus spoke up: “It is I; do not be afraid.” ²¹Then they were willing to take Him into the boat, and at once the boat reached the shore where they were heading. ~ John 6:14-21 (BSB)

³³Pilate went back into the Praetorium, summoned Jesus, and asked Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” ³⁴“Are you saying this on your own,” Jesus asked, “or did others tell you about Me?” ³⁵“Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. “Your own people and chief priests handed You over to me. What have You done?” ³⁶Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world; if it were, My servants would fight to prevent My arrest by the Jews. But now My kingdom is not of this realm.” ~ John 18:33-36 (BSB)

I am writing this article shortly after the very contentious 2024 presidential election. I have been wanting to write this for a long time, but it seemed appropriate to do this now. I have often stated that every major election in my lifetime has been a vain search for a savior. It seems as if America is always looking for that perfect leader who will usher in a time of paradise. This has never seemed to work out as many think that it would. Right now half of the country thinks that all is lost and another half believes that the angels are singing. Personally, I was never in the market for a Messiah. I already have one. I did vote but only for the president, not for a Messiah.

In the passages above, a very timely story is told. It is the aftermath of the miraculous feeding of the 5,000 and the people want to force Jesus to be King of the Jews. He is not interested in their political ambitions! He seems more interested in transforming their souls!! In order to escape being wrangled into being their king, He escapes and goes up on a mountain to be by Himself. Then when it is dark and the people cannot see Him, He walks on the water to get away from their attempts at making Him the face of their movement. Keep this in mind as we fast forward to His trial before His crucifixion.

At His trial Jesus is asked if He was the King of the Jews. His answer again affirmed that He had no interest in the politics of the day. In verse 36 He clearly states, “My kingdom is not of this world; if it were, My servants would fight to prevent My arrest by the Jews. But now My kingdom is not of this realm.” (BSB) I don’t want to be misunderstood. I am a big advocate of voting. It is our duty as citizens to vote. However, I do desire that Christians in America would take more seriously the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom that really matters. I personally will continue to pray for our political leaders. I have prayed for every president that I have ever had. However, the Kingdom of God is much more important to me.

In Christ,  Pastor Ken

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December 2024 Newsletter